Duzhen water beast
In China, many water-saving beasts were found. Cangzhou iron lion, also known as Zhenhai roar, is a water-saving beast of the Grand Canal. Cangzhou is full of water, and water is always in trouble. In the third year of Guang Shun, the last week of 1053 years ago, Cangzhou people cast this giant lion, which was nearly ten feet wide and weighed about forty tons. It is also the largest cast iron work of art in China at present. This iron lion is tall, with his face facing south and his tail facing north. His head is held high, his eyes are wide open, and his limbs are open, as if he suddenly stopped and strode forward. Magnificent and lifelike! Yu Qian, governor of Henan Province in the Ming Dynasty, built Hezhen Iron Rhinoceros in response to the Yellow River flood. In addition, there are water iron cangue in Dongting Lake town, river iron cow in Xuzhou town, river iron cow in Luohe Town, water beast in Houhai town, and so on.
In 20 13, a thousand-year-old stone beast was unearthed in Chengdu, Sichuan. When excavating stone beasts, archaeologists found that the soil layer belonged to the period from the end of Shu Han Dynasty to the Western Jin Dynasty. According to the shape and production style of the stone beast, they speculated that the stone beast should be a thousand-year-old stone beast, and its manufacturing age was probably in the Qin and Han Dynasties. This beast should be at least 2000 years old! Although some people think that this stone beast is a court god beast in the Five Dynasties period, it is also related to Zhang Baozhen's sinking into the river, but we still need to make textual research according to the professional archaeological knowledge of archaeologists. How old is it? Where did it come from? What's the special function or significance?
The shape of this stone beast is very huge. There is a protrusion on the slightly pointed head, which seems to be the dividing line between the upper and lower jaws, and cirrus lines are also painted on the cheeks. Xiangyun patterns of different sizes are painted on both sides of the car body; All four feet are engraved with hooves; The butt and tail are also angular. The experts present estimate that they may weigh 8 tons, and I wonder if they have wisdom. How did the ancients sink it to the bottom of the river? In ancient Chinese historical documents, such as Biography of the King of Shu and Records of Huayang Country? According to Shu Zhi, Li Bing managed floods in the Qin Dynasty and built the great Dujiangyan Project. When doing this project, Li Bing also did a strange thing, that is, he ordered the carving of five stone rhinos. Two of the five stone rhinos are in Chengdu, and the other three are in the river in guanxian. Li Bing made these stone beasts because he defined them as flat water beasts and thought that they could suppress floods and protect one side from floods.
From ancient times to the present, the god beast has always been an important element that affects geomantic omen. From the stone lion in the town house of a big family to various auspicious beasts in the palace, as well as the tile eaves of various ancient buildings, the figure of geomantic omen beasts can be seen everywhere. It is said that the five stone rhinoceroses recorded by Li Bing in history, as feng shui beasts to calm the water and suppress the essence of water, are accurately placed in different positions in Chengdu in different ways, which is actually a typical feng shui beast array. It can be seen that Li Bing before 2000 was not only an excellent engineer, but also a powerful feng shui master!
But why is the water monster like a cow, rhinoceros or other strange-shaped animals? In China's ancient Five Elements sermon, soil can overcome water, and ugliness belongs to soil, so the shape of an ox can be used to save water. In mythology, rhinoceros has the ability to divide water, so it is often used as a beast to calm water. The stone beast found this time looks like a lion and a rhinoceros, but it is a rhinoceros without horns.
Li Bing built Dujiangyan water conservancy project, which benefited Shu people for more than two thousand years. It is the oldest and only grand water conservancy project in the world, which is characterized by not building a dam to divert water and is still playing a role. At that time, many people said that Li Bing's town water beast could not be dug, and scientists said it was superstition. Then, all the places that haven't seen floods for more than ten years are flooded! What is the life story of the beast? What other secrets are hidden inside?